anise · bay leaves · bean · cardamom · chickpea · chili powder · cilantro · cinnamon · coriander · coriander leaves · curd · curry leaves · fennel seed · garlic · ginger · Indian · leavener · legume · main course · medium · mustard seed · onion · peppercorn · plain flour · salt · sugar · sweetener · tomato · tomato sauce · turmeric · Uncategorized · water · yeast

Chole Bhature – Deep Fried Bread & North Indian Style Curried Chickpeas

Bangalore weather has been very weepy the past few days. The sudden chill got to my bones and I wanted nothing more than to keep my feet curled up underneath me, tuck my blanket around me and snore away to glory. But for some strange reason, images of chole bhature kept creeping into my mind from nowhere, making it impossible to slip into the sinful pleasures of oblivion. (Could this mean I am a glutton?) After tossing and turning around in the darkness for a while, I realized that the only way to catch some sleep would be to give in to this particular call of chole bhature fate. I pulled myself out of bed and dragged my feet to the kitchen, tossed some chickpeas into a pot of water, measured out flour and curd and yeast for the bhature, mixed up my dough and let it rest on the stove, and returned to bed with the happy thoughts of chole bhature warming my heart.
Bhatura is essentially a deep fried leavened bread that is made with plain flour and fermented with curd and sometimes yeas

anise · basmati rice · butter · cardamom · cashew nut · Chicken · chili powder · chilli · cilantro · cooking fat · cooking oil · coriander · coriander leaves · corn · curd · fennel seed · garlic · ghee · ginger · hyderabadi · main course · medium · milk · mint leaves · non vegetarian · nutmeg · onion · pepper · raisin · Rice · saffron · salt · turmeric · Uncategorized · water

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

August has been a very good month, holiday wise. With four holidays and a couple of long weekends, a lot of non vegetarian cooking and eating happened in my house (my parents did the cooking on my request, and I did most of the eating). The Eid weekend had me dreaming of the wonderful Hyderabadi Du

anise · beef · cardamom · chili powder · chilli · cilantro · cinnamon · coconut · coconut oil · cooking oil · coriander · curry leaves · fennel seed · garam masala · garlic · ginger · kerala · main course · masala · medium · mustard seed · non vegetarian · onion · pepper · red meat · salt · Uncategorized

Beef Ularthiyathu – Kerala Style Beef Fry

India is a free country, they say. But many a time, I seriously doubt it. For eg, in Kerala, whenever a politician or one of his minions feels things are getting too quite, he declares a state wide hartal. The rest of us have to participate in the strike even if we have absolutely no idea what particular ailment of the politician prompted this declaration. Don’t get me wrong, I always love a strike, irrespective of whether the UDF or LDF declares it, and irrespective of whether it is a protest against the increase in petrol prices or fall in onion prices. Nothing beats an unexpected holiday in the middle of the week. But the point is that I have to stay at home just because someone else says so. I am not against the staying at home part either, but just in case I have a sudden urge to drive to the middle of the town and do a few Jhamak Challo dance steps on the street, I wouldn’t be able to, not unless I am OK with a broken windshield and a few broken bones. Not convinced? OK, here is

anise · cardamom · Chicken · chili powder · cilantro · cinnamon · coconut · coconut oil · cooking oil · coriander · curry leaves · fennel · garam masala · garlic · ginger · Indian · Kerala Cuisine · mace · masala · medium · mustard seed · non vegetarian · onion · pepper · salt · Side Dish · turmeric · Uncategorized

Nadan Kozhi Curry – Kerala Style Chicken Curry

This is a nadan chicken curry straight from the rustic kitchens of Kerala. It is cooked with slightly bruised spices, masala powders, coconut slices and curry leaves. Sunday chicken curry is such an integral part of the Syrian Christian community in Kerala that I cannot imagine how I never posted ab

american · anise · appetizer · butter · chili powder · cinnamon · citrus · coriander leaves · cream · curd · easy · gluten free · honey · lemon · orange rind · ovo vegetarian · pineapple · pomegranate · seed · sweetener · tropical fruit · Uncategorized · Vegetarian · yoghurt

Roasted Pineapple Salad

If I could have my way, I would ban weighing machines and full length mirrors in all malls. There I was, having a good time, wondering what to snack upon next, when the hubby drew my attention to a weighing machine to see if his stint in the gym had any effect at all. He removed his sandals, stood on the machine, popped in a coin and waited with bated breath. I got to the piece of paper that popped out quicker than him, checked the readings quickly, had a good laugh about how the scales refused to move in his favour, and lectured to him about the kinds of exercise that could actually make some difference. He got irritated and asked me to weigh myself then. I went out like a light bulb as I looked at my reading, surely there had to be some mistake. But a careful scrutiny in the mirror, and I realized that the weighing machine might not be lying after all. I looked at the other women strolling about in their tight jeans and tees and felt a sudden urge to ban them as well.
All my anger a